


bitter not sweet

by protag



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Ensemble Stars! Secret Valentine 2019, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-28 19:34:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17793434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/protag/pseuds/protag
Summary: It was such a small and avoidable mistake, one Tori knew Yuzuru would never make. Baking wasn’t meant to be so hard, he was supposed to have done something people didn’t expect from him and have managed to surprise Yuzuru (and hopefully make him smile).





	bitter not sweet

Valentines was all about chocolate and couples, and while the latter had never applied to him Tori loved the idea of any holiday that would get him sweets. 

Of course, that was before he’d learned Yumenosaki expected the idols to give out chocolates to fans. 

Tori had complained a bit, but quietly decided that to be paid back on White Day was acceptable. He’d been so caught up in thinking about being on the receiving end of gifts and attention, it took his classmates discussing who they wanted to give chocolate to for him to consider the idea. 

Fellow classmates and seniors were the main focus — Shinobu eagerly even expressed his desire to make some ninja weapon shaped sweets. That was why Tori ended up thinking about who he wanted to bake for. 

Eichi was a must, that went without saying. 

He begrudgingly decided to make something for his Tennis Club seniors too. 

So he didn’t feel cruel, Wataru was also allowed some — only so he wasn’t the only one in fine Tori didn’t give anything to. 

Keito and Mao, he also decided, would be so lucky as to receive something from him when he recalled how much they’d help him with student council work.

Yuzuru was the hardest to plan to bake for. The butler was always following him around, and Tori rarely got a chance to take a breath before things were being done for him. He’d had a few failed attempts to sneak off to the kitchen to try practice cooking on his own, but he was always found either by Yuzuru or another servant who was well aware he was up past his bedtime. 

He eventually realised he had to do it at school but that wasn’t an easy solution. To be able to do it and to get the time and assistance to learn outside of Yuzuru’s knowledge took something Tori hated.

He had to ask for help. 

He pleaded for Keito to find Yuzuru something to get caught up with, to keep him busy. 

Hajime had been too busy to help him when he tried asking, and he was lucky that Tsukasa hadn’t heard and teased him. Tori was luckier still when Yuuta volunteered to ask Hinata to give him a hand, since sweet making was basically a hobby of the older twin’s.

When Tori complained about how difficult it had been to get assistance at his club, Nazuna surprised him by volunteering as well. That was how he ended up in one of the school’s kitchens with Hinata and Nazuna trying to follow their instructions. 

“Why is there so much mixing involved…” Tori groaned, his little arms doing the best they could to mix together the ingredients in the bowl.

“To make everything just right. Hey, if you’re worried you’re losing arm strength, should I tell Oogami-senpai you want to undergo his special training again?” Hinata answered him, a cheeky grin on his face that only grew as Tori looked annoyed at him. 

“No way! Why do you want to kill me?” Tori angrily flicked a bit of mixture off the whisk when he thrusted his hand out towards Hinata to object strongly.

“Calm down, Momo-chin! You don’t want to make a mess.” Nazuna scolded lightly, grabbing a cloth to clean up the mess immediately. 

Tori frowned but settled, knowing the third year was right. He just wouldn’t admit it.

“What’s cooking without a little mess?” Hinata joked carelessly. 

“I guess Hinata-chin being the twin you mentioned makes sense, but Yuuta-chin would at least be better behaved.” Nazuna said, sighing to himself as he rinsed the cloth off in the nearest sink. 

“Huuuh? First I’m not the most doted over junior in our club, now you want to see someone in my class more than me?” Tori complained.

“Yeah, since when were you so fond of Yuuta-kun?” Hinata questioned, leaning forward from his spot perched on the bench to stare Nazuna down. 

The interrogation caught Nazuna off guard, his face reddened and he looked between his two underclassmen in flustered shock.

“I’m nyot-! Gah-“ Nazuna bit his tongue and stumbled over his words as he tried to object. 

Hinata’s eyes narrowed in suspicion, and he leaned forward more to pressure Nazuna again. 

“Geez, enough of that! Someone pay attention to me! Tell me if I’ve mixed it enough already,” Tori said, more than happy to break up that moment. 

Nazuna was all in on an excuse to change the subject, stepping in and considering the contents of the bowl.

“It seems alright to me.” Nazuna said to him. Hinata made a humming sort of noise to give his approval as well.

“What do I do now then…?” Tori asked, uncertain.

“Now you grab the dough out and roll it out on the bench.” Hinata told him, jumping up to get out of the way.

“Put some flour down first so it won’t get stuck.” Nazuna instructed, going to grab the bag of it and pausing as Hinata had decided to act following that line.

“Will a sun ‘flower’ do? Get it?” Hinata had stretched back and leaned his head against the bench. Tori knew he was named after them but neither he or Nazuna had a laugh for the ginger. “...Tough crowd.” Hinata straightened up and properly got out of the way.

Nazuna scattered some flour onto the bench and gave Tori a nod to let him know to continue. 

Tori put the dough onto the bench, groaning in annoyance over the feeling of it as he flattened it out the best he could on his own before being given a rolling pin. He still had a bit of a pout on his face as he rolled the dough to flatten it again, but there was determination on his face.

“So, Hime-kun, why are you going out of your way to make cookies when you could buy all the chocolate in the world?” Hinata finally asked out of curiosity. 

“Well… Chocolate is too obvious for a gift. And I’m not a lowly commoner so I can do anything if I try.” Tori half answered, puffing up as he tried to stroke his own ego.

Nazuna had already got out the cookie cutters. Angels suited fine even if that was more the shape of a Christmas cookie, bunnies were cute, and it’s not like there were any dog shaped cutters to bother the butler.

“Uhm… I was just making them because I could, so... what I’m about to say is nonsense rambling but listen closely.” Tori speaks up after a moment, gazing down at the heart shaped cutter thoughtfully.

“We’re all ears.” Hinata said to assure him after sharing a fond look with Nazuna.

“It’s just, since I’ve always been by Yuzuru’s side I know that dummy never thinks about himself or even either expects a gift so… If there’s anyone who should say, ‘thank you, I appreciate you’ then it’s me.” Tori says, voice dropping a bit in embarrassment but his words remain firm and genuine. 

“He’s lucky to have such a good kid like you, Momo-chin. I just know he’ll love it,” Nazuna assured him, giving Tori a pet on the head since he couldn’t resist.

“Hey! Only Eichi-sama gets to pat me.” Tori hissed out in protest, stepping out from under his hand. Of course, Anzu could as well but Eichi was the first to be so privileged in his books. 

From there he tried to bake the cookies, putting them all in the oven and waiting for them. It should have gone off without a problem, except Tori had insisted on doing it all himself outside of being given instructions, and not one of the boys in the room had noticed Tori had set the oven to be far hotter than it had to be. 

It was such a small and avoidable mistake, one Tori knew Yuzuru would never make. Baking wasn’t meant to be so hard, he was supposed to have done something people didn’t expect from him and have managed to surprise Yuzuru (and hopefully make him smile). 

The setback made his heart sting, but Tori surprised himself by not crying. He just stared at the burned messes in the tray with disappointment.

“Hey- We still have lots of ingredients! Making another batch is no trouble at all. Everyone makes mistakes when learning.” Hinata tried to encourage him. 

Tori just felt his frustration spike especially as Nazuna lifted up a cookie and looked like he was going to try it.

“Stop that! They’re for Yuzuru,” Tori said quickly. He ripped the cookie from Nazuna’s hand, knowing it would seem childish. “Are these your big brother instincts or something? I’m never this stifling to my sister! Ugh… I get it, I screwed up but I still tried hard on this batch, so I’m giving them to him anyway. I can’t be flawless at everything like he is… But I still wanted to give him the food I made by myself without help for the first time, to show him I’m not a kid. So… You can’t go treating me like one.” 

Tori huffed. It felt like a lot once he’d started pouring his heart out, but he felt better once he’d started to say it. He wanted to amaze Yuzuru, to make him proud or embarrassed. He knew the cookies wouldn’t be enough, but he still had a point to prove with them, and he wasn’t going to let one failure stop him.

He did start to falter a little from embarrassment when Hinata and Nazuna stared at him, stunned, but soon they were both smiling.

“That’s really grown up of you.” Nazuna encouraged. 

“Yeah! I’m sure you’ll make him absolutely speechless eventually.” Hinata told him. 

“That doesn’t sound confident at all!” Tori barked back but the twin only laughed. 

Still, Tori was feeling satisfied and a lot better about his intentions since they didn’t tell him it was pointless. He still didn’t think sharing how he felt was easy but it did help sometimes. 

“How proud I am of you, my young master… Under my watch or otherwise you’re growing up so much.” A new voice interrupted. 

All three already in the kitchen were understandably startled by the fact Yuzuru had managed to enter and go unnoticed until he spoke up.

“You- Yuzuwu-chin? When did few get here?” Nazuna’s speech slurred in his startled panic.

“Stupid slave! Go away!” Tori complained, he moved quickly to try and hide the cookies — he’d wanted to try make them look a little better before he handed them over despite all his talk.

“How rude a reaction.” Yuzuru gave a short response, it was something he’d expected though so he wasn’t genuinely bothered. 

“Appearing without warning like a creepy murderer in a horror movie aside... Why are you here, Fushimi-senpai?” Hinata asked, deciding to try move things along.

“After so many tasks it became painfully obvious Vice President-sama was trying to keep me distracted, so I thought I best seek out my young master. So, this was it, you were assisting him in making sweets? For President-sama, I assume… Honestly, I do not know why you are so adamant about not allowing me to help.” Yuzuru sighed as he spoke, misunderstanding making Tori curl up over the cookies.

“Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!” Tori said again and again, shouting at him frustrated. 

Yuzuru honestly looked puzzled by the reaction having been certain he figured it all out.

“Yuzuru-chin, that’s not it, so... You have to listen to him.” Nazuna scolded, giving Tori the time to calm down. 

“Yeah, you may as well just tell the truth since he’s here, Hime-kun.” Hinata said with a shrug, not wanting to see Tori continuing to get upset over being found out.

Tori made a squeaky noise from his frustration, highly considering remaining stubborn and just yelling some more before he straightened up, giving up on hiding the cookies.  
He was still pouting, irritated but a blush spread across his face.

“They’re for you. I’m trying to learn for you… To make something for you.” Tori admitted in, still mumbling through most of his words but admitting it. 

Yuzuru stared speechless, his eyes wide as he processed the answer. It made sense, the things he’d assumed still made sense it was just out of avoidance for him in a way he hadn’t considered.

“Please, allow me to have them. Wait- I must get a camera so I can record this moment forever. No- Is there a way to store the cookies in perfect condition forever?” Yuzuru’s words stumbled out again and again as he felt his heart warmed even just by the gesture.

“So gross! They’re going in the bin since they’re not perfect!” Tori insisted, quick to yell again.

Alarmed, Yuzuru quickly forced his way through, and despite how messy it was and how out of character it would look he quickly ate all the cookies. Tori did what he could to try and pull Yuzuru away, but was too weak. Nazuna stared on in surprise, with Hinata in the meantime cheering Yuzuru on.

“You— Why did you ignore me like that?” Tori demanded, still not recovered. 

Yuzuru carefully cleaned away stray crumbs.

“It doesn’t taste very good. The technique wasn’t quite there, and of course, they’re much too overcooked... But I’ve never had better. From here, the next batch will only improve. I cannot wait to see how you continue to grow.” Yuzuru spoke evenly with a gentle gaze as he explained his actions. 

Despite the insults Tori softened, embarrassed blush spreading as he crossed his arms.

“You’re being awfully arrogant, assuming I’ll make you any more,” Tori told him, but he was practically glowing with satisfaction and excitement.

“Hey, Nito-senpai. Wasn’t Hime-kun just saying how he wants to keep working hard for Fushimi-senpai?” Hinata said with a mischievous giggle.

“Hinata-chin, stay out of it,” Nazuna only scolded him, covering Hinata’s mouth with a hand to stop him from interrupting.

“Whether there are cookies involved or not, I appreciate your feelings. From the bottom of my heart, thank you Tori.” Yuzuru said gently, reaching out and placing a hand on Tori’s head.

**Author's Note:**

> i wasn't too sure if i should write it romantic or platonic so i tried to kind of leave it inbetween up to your preference. i really love fine so with luck that came through and anyone who bothered to read enjoys. i'm /saltysugi on twitter so please feel free to hit me up i'm always happy to have more mutuals to get along with and write for.


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